9.01.2012

Hello ~ Yes, it's been a long time since I've posted! New phases of life have led to new priorities and new endeavors, and that's not necessarily a bad thing!

I'd like to invite everyone to visit my new blog: In Utero Locavore. Here's a taste from the first post:

Beginnings

Hello everyone! It's been almost a full year since I've posted to my blog, The Good Food Muse, and given the long period of time and the changes in my life, I thought it fitting that I start a new project.

As you can probably guess from the blog title, I'm pregnant! Stanley and I are expecting a baby boy in mid-December, which makes me 24 weeks along, almost at the 2/3 mark. Pregnancy hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been all that hard either. Especially once I could feel the movements of the baby in my womb, and the idea that there reallyis a little person in there became really real to me, excitement overwhelmed the feelings of discomfort. Hopefully that keeps up!

So what's this new blog about? Well, anything I write at this point in my life will invariably be about baby. It's really all I think about at times, and I can't leave him out. That's a given.

I've been thinking about how cool it is that my baby is made up entirely of things that I have eaten in the past months, many of them local. He's only a little over 1lb now, with a lot more weight to gain in the next three months. What percentage of him will come directly out of the Wisconsin soil? What does this mean for him as new human being? What does this mean for his mother and family? These are questions I hope to delve into here.

I've also started thinking about local beyond food. How can I welcome my baby in a way that upholds the same principals that draw me to local food? How can I enter into motherhood in a way that is good for me, good for my baby, and also good to the planet, it's soil, it's animals, and the economy of the place we call home?
Of increasing importance to me as I plan for my family's future, is how do I do all this without spending way too much money? It seems that a lifestyle in which organic, sustainable, and local are central factors is reserved only for people who can afford it. Is there a way to do it in a way that is economically sustainable for my family and also realistic for our available time and energy? We shall see.

As September rolls closer, I've realized that I've done some sort of eat local challenge every year for 5 years. I can't imagine stopping now. I plan to start this blog with an eat local challenge, and explore what that means for a pregnant lady. If time and energy still exist, I'll continue through the birth of my baby boy, exploring all of the themes above, and more as they come up.